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On Tuesday, 12 July 2022, at 20:00, the Museum of Byzantine Culture (Thessaloniki) presents an exhibition of work by George Kordis titled The Uprooted: Refugees. This work is a large-scale installation on the theme of uprootedness and the experience of refugees as a socio-historical phenomenon, tracing its existential, psychological and humanitarian aspects.
The installation comprises 8 (eight) self-contained works which combine to create a unified work illustrating the course of people violently driven from their homes as they make their way in fear, searching for a new and hospitable land to shelter their lives and dreams.
These works have been produced entirely on digital media. Presented in Giclee prints on Hahnemuhle fine art canvas printed by the Granis brothers at the Colour Consulting Group workshop in Thessaloniki, the works will be presented in the Peristyle of the Museum’s Atrium.
George Kordis is an important contemporary artist and expert on Byzantine art. His personal artistic style is grounded in the principles of the Byzantine system of art and engages in open dialogue with artistic currents both ancient and contemporary. In Greece, Kordis is also a pioneer in digital painting, which he employs in the creation of contemporary secular art and religious icons.
In the present work, the artist has endeavoured to highlight the trauma afflicting all those who have been deprived of their homes. The human procession presented in this work draws attention to the primal emotions of fear, insecurity, and abandonment. Through artistic means, this work primarily aims to illustrate the harm inflicted on the human soul by the experience of homelessness, which endangers a person’s ability to form relationships and connections with others in the context of a community.
In parallel to the exhibition of this installation there will also be a screening of an art video by director and musician Fenia Papadodima at the small Museum’s Amphitheatre. The video documents the creative process behind the paintings and is accompanied by a musical score and literary references.
The exhibition will remain open to the public for the entirety of the summer season until 31 August.
Contributors:
Writings on the exhibition have been contributed by: Manos Stephanides (art historian); Dimitris Kosmopoulos (poet); Keri Wiederspahn (visual artist and international curator of George Kordis’ exhibitions)
Curator of the exhibition for the Museum of Byzantine Culture: Dr. Agathoniki Tsilipakou, Director of the Museum of Byzantine Culture
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